Reeves v. State

806 S.W.2d 540, 1990 WL 130235
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 30, 1991
Docket249-88
StatusPublished
Cited by71 cases

This text of 806 S.W.2d 540 (Reeves v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reeves v. State, 806 S.W.2d 540, 1990 WL 130235 (Tex. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION ON APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR REHEARING AFTER PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW REFUSED

MILLER, Judge.

A jury convicted appellant of the offense of unlawful delivery of amphetamine of an aggregate weight, including adulterants and dilutants, of more than 28 grams but less than 400 grams. See TEX.REV.CIV. STAT.ANN. art. 4476-15, sec. 4.031(a) and (c), (Vernon Supp.1988). 1 Upon appellant’s plea of true to the State’s enhancement allegations, the jury assessed punishment at forty-seven years and six months confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections and a fine of $60,000.00.

*541 On appeal, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals affirmed appellant’s conviction in a published opinion. Reeves v. State, 743 S.W.2d 362 (Tex.App. — Fort Worth 1987). After originally denying appellant’s petition for discretionary review, we granted appellant’s motion for rehearing to determine whether the court of appeals erred in holding that the evidence was sufficient to prove the delivery of over 28 grams of amphetamine. See Tex.R.App.Pro. 200(c)(2). We will reverse.

The indictment in the present case alleged that appellant on or about November 26, 1985, “intentionally and knowingly deliver[ed] to J.E. Lee a controlled substance, namely: amphetamine of more than twenty-eight grams, but less than four-hundred grams by actually transferring said controlled substance.” Since appellant asserts insufficiency of the evidence, a brief recitation of the pertinent facts is in order.

The testimony at trial demonstrated that for several months prior to his arrest, appellant had been under surveillance by undercover narcotics officers of the Fort Worth and Arlington Police Departments. While operating in an undercover capacity, Officers Joseph E. Lee and Ed Featherston made several contacts with appellant and arranged to purchase from appellant some amphetamine or “speed”. On the day of appellant’s arrest, Lee and Featherston went to appellant’s residence to make the purchase. Officer Lee testified that he and appellant went inside appellant’s house while Featherston waited outside. While inside, Lee told appellant that he and Featherston had in their car various items used in the process of manufacturing speed and that they were willing to trade the items for two ounces of speed. 2 Appellant told Lee that he had a quantity of “wet” speed available for sale, and that if Lee found that it weighed less than two grams when it dried out, then appellant would make up the difference the following day. Lee testified that he accepted appellant’s offer. Lee then went outside to where Featherston was waiting, and both officers then returned to the house with the items. At that time, appellant handed Lee a small plastic sandwich bag containing a “white wet powdery type substance.” Lee placed the bag in his pocket, and he and Feather-ston then left the residence. Approximately thirty to forty-five minutes later, Lee, Featherston and several other police officers returned with a search warrant. Upon execution of the warrant, appellant was arrested and the items used in the transaction were seized.

Frank Shiller, director of the Fort Worth Police Department Crime Laboratory, testified that he performed tests on the substance delivered by appellant to Officer Lee and determined that the entire contents of the plastic bag weighed 29.7600 grams. Shiller further testified that based on his experience and the results of tests he performed on the substance, in his opinion, the material contained amphetamine. However, Shiller also stated that the exact percentage of amphetamine within the material was not determined. Shiller did not testify, furthermore, as to the nature of any other substances in the material besides amphetamine.

Appellant claimed on appeal to the court of appeals that this evidence was insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Based on a court of appeals decision in Cruse v. State, 722 S.W.2d 778 (Tex.App. — Beaumont 1986), appellant argued that because the indictment alleged that he delivered “amphetamine of more than 28 grams but less than 400 grams,” the State was required to prove that the amount of pure amphetamine was more than 28 grams but less than 400 grams. In Cruse, the appellant was indicted for “intentionally and knowingly possessing] a controlled substance, namely: METHAMPHETAMINE of more than twenty-eight grams but less than four hundred grams.” The Beaumont court of appeals held that an instructed verdict should have been *542 granted to appellant because the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the methamphetamine weighed more than 28 grams. The evidence revealed that the contents of a cup which was seized weighed 42.17 grams and contained some amount of methamphetamine, but the amount of actual methamphetamine present within that 42.17 grams of substance was not determined. The majority in Cruse held:

“Here, the indictment alleges the methamphetamine to be of more than 28 grams. It does not use the phrase “including its adulterants and dilutants”. The state is bound by the allegations in its indictment and must prove them beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Cruse, 722 S.W.2d at 780.

The court of appeals in the present case expressly rejected appellant’s argument and implicitly disagreed with the holding in Cruse. In its reasoning, the court of appeals held that the language of Article 4476-15, Section 4.031(c), see fn. 1, ante, broadened the definition of “controlled substance” to include adulterants and dilu-tants; therefore, when the State alleges an offense under Section 4.031(c), the use of the term “controlled substance” encompasses adulterants and dilutants for purposes of determining the weight alleged. Thus, the court of appeals held that the proof adduced at trial did not vary from the indictment, and the evidence was sufficient to support a finding that appellant delivered more than 28 grams of amphetamine, including adulterants and dilutants. Reeves, 743 S.W.2d at 363. We disagree with the above reasoning.

The Texas Controlled Substances Act, Article 4476-15, provides the framework for regulating certain “controlled substances” which are defined within the Act as “drug[s], substance[s], or immediate precursors] listed in Schedules I through Y or Penalty Groups 1 through 4 of this Act.” Sec. 1.02(4). Subchapter 4 of the Act classifies offenses and punishment according to four “penalty groups,” each of which contains certain listed controlled substances.

Section 4.031 describes the offense and punishment for the unlawful manufacture or delivery of controlled substances in Penalty Group 2, in which amphetamine is listed. Section 4.031(a) specifically provides:

“Except as authorized by this Act, a person commits an offense if he knowingly or intentionally manufactures, delivers, or possesses with the intent to deliver a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group 2.”

An offense under Section 4.031(a) is a felony of the second degree. Sec. 4.031(b).

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Bluebook (online)
806 S.W.2d 540, 1990 WL 130235, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reeves-v-state-texcrimapp-1991.